Yes, it does. They can’t say, after the appointment has been made and missed, “Well, here in my desk drawer is a binder called ‘Appointment Policies’ and it says you have to pay for missed appointments.” (Well, they could say that, but they’d be laughed out of court.) But if you make your appointment in person, and next to the receptionist’s window is a sign that says: NOTICE
Patients are hereby advised that their appointments must be cancelled not later than 48 hours before their scheduled occurrence.
Patients who miss an appointment without having cancelled at least 48 hours in advance will be billed for the services arranged to have been performed.
then it is assuredly a question of fact as to whether this term is within the contract, i.e., did the party take or should have taken notice of this sign. Furthermore, most fact-finders would, without more, very likely find that it is.
Of course, you still have the LDC and mitigation analyses to consider. But as to its inclusion in the contract, that is hard to doubt.
So what happens if I call up 6 months later and make an appointment. That sign that I may or may not have seen 6 months ago, and may or may not remember, is somehow incorporated? Please.
I’m wearing my spiffy new tee shirt the next time I go to the doc then.
If you have an agreement with a definite price term, then it’s probably a contract and you will be liable for breach.
How many times do you make an appointment with a doctor and know what you’re going to pay before you show up? They clearly don’t (attempt to) charge you anything approximating his lost revenue.
let me ask you this. what happens if i show up for my appointment, but I don’t like the agreements that I’m being forced to sign at the receptionist’s desk detailing billing procedures, use of medical information, etc. I don’t agree with them (say they specify that I will pay 150% interest on all outstanding bills) so I don’t sign them, so I don’t get seen by him.
Still think I ought to pay for a missed appointment? Clearly I cost him lost time, but I don’t think anyone would think that was the case. So what makes my mere appointment with the MD different than my executed agreement with the musician?
I’m willing to bet that if you asked your doctor’s office staff to show you anything indicating that you’ve agreed to pay for missed appointments, they can grab your chart and show you a signed agreement.
As for knowing what I’ll pay before I show up? That’s easy - always. Just need to look at the insurance card for that one.
Rumor_Watkins, forgive me if I’ve missed this somewhere, but since you avoided my request for a cite above, would you mind telling us all what your source of authority for your statements is?
I am pretty sure they are misapplied basic principles of general American contract law. At this point I think we can hash these issues out without getting all cite happy.
You know what. Pay me $5.00 RIGHT NOW. I bill you!
Contracts don’t hold where the terms of the agreement are so vague as to preclude any reasonable and objective determination of what exactly the agreement is. Calling up a doctor and setting an apointment (ABSENT ANYTHING MORE, such as a receptionist telling you that if you don’t give them 24 hours notice you have to pay $100 for the missed appt. or whatever) is not, in any objective sense, an agreement for much of anything. If anything, it can be seen as an agreement to enter into negotiations for further service.
The doctor could probably give a rat’s patootie about collecting the $25 from a one-time event. They just want a way to weed out the patients who are going to be an ongoing PITA.
Actually, if you want to get really picky, if this is construed as a unilateral contract then the musician is SOL (there are bad faith concerns here, but this gets really fact specific)
Oh, it is not a unilateral contract; it was mutual exchange of promises. Musician promises to play on Saturday afternoon and Host promises to pay him $200.
I do think your more important point, that the charge may not be a contractual provision without notice, and even then subject to reasonableness limitation, is well-taken and not really a misapplication of contract law.
You might be able to make the argument that the custom and usage in medicine is to charge for appointments missed but not cancelled in advance, which would bring it in. I think this is a long shot though, especially when dealing with consumer transactions.
Well if it is construed as a turtle it would eat fish. But even a unilateral contract is accepted by performance the musician showed up absent a prior revocation the contract was formed
On a further note as to why there are often obscene waits in doctors’/dentists’ offices…
This is not just about overbooking (although that’s certainly a factor): this is also about your fellow patients. Because people can be embarassed or scared, they won’t always be completely forthcoming with the real reason they’re coming in. So, the patient is only scheduled for a quick checkup, or what have you, and it’s only when they’re coming to the end of the scheduled time that they bring up the real reason they’re there. What’s the doctor/dentist supposed to do, kick them out on their ass? No, they start working on the real issue… with the result that whoever was supposed to come in after this patient gets bumped back.
Not to say that this completely excuses the system, but that there’s more going on here than sheer cupidity on the part of the people running the office.
